User:JonesAndRusty/Evaluate an Article

Evaluate an article

Complete your article evaluation below. Here are the key aspects to consider:

Lead section

A good lead section defines the topic and provides a concise overview. A reader who just wants to identify the topic can read the first sentence. A reader who wants a very brief overview of the most important things about it can read the first paragraph. A reader who wants a quick overview can read the whole lead section.

Does the lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
Does the lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
Does the lead include information that is not present in the article? (It shouldn't.)
Is the lead concise or is it overly detailed?

Content

A good Wikipedia article should cover all the important aspects of a topic, without putting too much weight on one part while neglecting another.

Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
Is the content up-to-date?
Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?
Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics?

Tone and Balance

Wikipedia articles should be written from a neutral point of view; if there are substantial differences of interpretation or controversies among published, reliable sources, those views should be described as fairly as possible.

Is the article neutral?
Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
Are minority or fringe viewpoints accurately described as such?
Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?

Sources and References

A Wikipedia article should be based on the best sources available for the topic at hand. When possible, this means academic and peer-reviewed publications or scholarly books.

Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
Are the sources current?
Are the sources written by a diverse spectrum of authors? Do they include historically marginalized individuals where possible?
Are there better sources available, such as peer-reviewed articles in place of news coverage or random websites? (You may need to do some digging to answer this.)
Check a few links. Do they work?

Organization and writing quality

The writing should be clear and professional, the content should be organized sensibly into sections.

Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?

Images and Media

Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
Are images well-captioned?
Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?

Talk page discussion

The article's talk page — and any discussions among other Wikipedia editors that have been taking place there — can be a useful window into the state of an article, and might help you focus on important aspects that you didn't think of.

What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

Overall impressions

What is the article's overall status?
What are the article's strengths?
How can the article be improved?
How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?

Examples of good feedback

A good article evaluation can take a number of forms. The most essential things are to clearly identify the biggest shortcomings, and provide specific guidance on how the article can be improved.

Peer review of this article about a famous painting

Which article are you evaluating?

The Magnus Archives

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?

We could choose anything and I was listening to this earlier this morning.

Evaluate the article

Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
- Nothing distractd me and for as far as I have listened, everything is relevent to the subject matter.
Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
- I didnt find anything that was missing and I beleive everything is up to date.
Can you identify any notable equity gaps? Does the article underrepresent or misrepresent historically marginalized populations?
- I cant find any gaps.
What else could be improved?
- I don't know. It seems like a pretty well trafficed and edited page.

Is the article neutral? Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
- It read as pretty neutral and I didnt see anything that was biased.
Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
- Not really, as the only "overrepresented" viewpoint I saw was that of the main character.

Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?
- The links work and the ones I went through do have information to support the claims made within the article.
Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
- As far as I can tell, everything is appropriately cited and referenced, with most of the information coming from the source material or q and a's with the creator.
Do the sources come from a diverse array of authors and publications?
- Not really, as most of the sources are from the source material or the creator.

What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
- There isnt a lot of conversation within the talk page but there is a lot written. What I think is the original person to work on the article recomened a collaboration of the month proposal.
How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
- It is part of four wikiprojects and I cant find what its rated.
How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
- In class we have focused on a lot of people pages and this is a page about a peice of media, which I think is the biggest difference to what we have been doing in class. Even though it is a sizable article, it doesnt have a lot of edits.